Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store
Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store takes you behind the counter of a real small business run by two parents raising four kids while building their dream. Each episode shares honest weekly wins, failures, lessons, and the beautiful chaos of running Fort Orange General Store—from inventory challenges to bedtime routines, customer stories to relationship balancing acts. If you’re a small business owner, an aspiring entrepreneur, a parent juggling too much, or someone who loves authentic conversations about work and life blending together, this show is for you. Expect candid storytelling, practical takeaways, and a real look at what it takes to build a business without losing yourself—or your sense of humor—along the way. Topics listeners come here for: • Small business challenges & victories • Balancing entrepreneurship and family life • Marriage + business partnership dynamics • Work-life integration (and when it falls apart) • Behind-the-scenes of Fort Orange General Store • Real stories from real small business owners New episodes every week. Honest. Relatable. Sometimes chaotic. Always real. Help us keep the mics on and show your support: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/2UYW9XX4NX2HW Fort Orange General Store: https://www.fortorangegeneralstore.com/ Podcast: https://www.fortorangegeneralstore.com/podcast
Episodes
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What does a real day in the life of a small business owner actually look like?
It's probably not what you think.
In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe and Erica take you completely behind the scenes of running an independent retail business in Downtown Albany, New York's SoBro District. From unloading in...
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How do small businesses decide what products to sell? Why do some items never make it onto the shelves, while others—like our now-famous Nipper Plush—become runaway successes?
In this milestone 20th episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, we're pulling back the curtain on one of the least glamorous—...
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Sometimes the best business ideas don't come from sitting behind a desk.
They come from slowing down.
In Episode 19 of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, we're sharing the story behind our newest community initiative, Walk Albany With Us—a social media series inspired by daily walks through Downtown Albany with our ne...
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Every entrepreneur dreams of getting their business featured in the media—but how do you know which opportunities are worth pursuing?
In Episode 18 of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, we're sharing the behind-the-scenes lessons we've learned about becoming our own public relations team, navigating media opportuniti...
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What happens when a simple idea grows into something bigger than you ever imagined?
In Episode 17 of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, we're taking you behind the scenes of the inaugural SoBro First Friday Block Party—a night that proved the future of Downtown Albany is being built one conversation, one collaboratio...
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What happens when a simple idea starts turning into a community movement?
In Episode 16 of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, we’re sharing one of the most exciting and unexpected chapters of our small business journey yet.
Over the past two weeks, a grassroots effort to bring together local businesses on South Broadw...
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What happens when an entire city rallies around local businesses, community pride, and Albany’s most iconic dog?
In Episode 15 of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, we’re recapping one of the most exciting weekends we’ve ever experienced as small business owners: 518 Day in Downtown Albany.
From organizing...
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What happens when a small business gets unexpected media attention—and the entire community shows up because of it?
In Episode 14 of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, we’re sharing the wild, exciting, and honestly surreal week where our store was featured by the Associated Press… and everything changed ...
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What does it really look like to run a small business, raise a family, and help rebuild a downtown community—all at the same time?
In Episode 13 of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, we’re taking you inside one of our busiest (and most meaningful) weeks yet.
From planning Albany’s first-ever 518 Day celebr...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello talk about one of the most recognizable—and most frequently asked about—symbols in Albany:
Nipper.
If you’ve ever visited Fort Orange General Store, you’ve likely seen the iconic dog featured throughout the shop. And ...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello talk through a real and ongoing challenge of small business ownership:
Managing people while still being responsible for the work itself.
As their business continues to grow, so does the complexity of working with a team. But unlike larger o...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello celebrate a major milestone—10 episodes—by turning the conversation outward and asking a powerful question:
What’s missing in Downtown Albany?
What started as a simple post on social media quickly grew into a much larger co...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello reflect on a series of recent conversations and experiences that led to one powerful realization:
Not all growth is good growth.
After participating in a pop-up event and reconnecting with past communities, Joe and Erica began to connect the...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello dive into one of the most important elements of running a successful small business: relationships with customers.
For many businesses, transactions are the goal. But for Erica and Joe, the real foundation of Fort Orange General Store is th...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello take a step back from the day-to-day realities of retail and ask a deeper question:
What does success actually mean?
For both of them, the definition has changed dramatically over time.
Joe and Erica reflect on the different versions of succe...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello pull back the curtain on how they actually market a small retail business — without a big agency, massive ad budget, or corporate team behind them.
From downtown events like First Fridays and seasonal strolls to Instagram posts writte...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello reflect on a single sentence spoken during their wedding ceremony that continues to shape their lives: “Marry someone you’d go into business with.”
What started as an unexpected line from their officiant—and longtime...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello share their origin story—how a late-night Instagram scroll turned into buying a brick-and-mortar small business in Downtown Albany.
What started as a joking text—“We should buy this”—quickly became something ne...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello share one of the most difficult stories they’ve faced as small business owners—one they didn’t know if they were ready to tell.
On Christmas morning, just minutes after midnight, Fort Orange General Store was broken into. ...
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In this episode of Small Business, Big Life: Inside Fort Orange General Store, Joe Slichko and Erica Cubello break down what it really takes to pull off a major community retail event as small business owners—while juggling family life, exhaustion, and very big ideas.
The focus is Downtown Albany’s Hot Chocolate Stroll, a beloved annua...
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